


all these funny feelings

by avosettas



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Basically Uncomfortable Conversations About The End of The Musical, Beetlejuice's Ever-Present Abandonment Issues, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Self-Harm, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22642132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avosettas/pseuds/avosettas
Summary: “We basically welcomed him into the family just to kill him, Charles. It must have been traumatizing.”“I’m sure being forced into a green card marriage was traumatizing for Lydia,” Charles replies grumpily.“Lydia is still very close to him after everything that happened. And he’s trying, Charles, he’s trying so hard.”
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Charles Deetz, Beetlejuice & Delia Deetz, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Charles Deetz/Delia Deetz
Comments: 11
Kudos: 219





	all these funny feelings

**Author's Note:**

> i got an anon prompt for beej hanging out with charles and delia... it turned angst because all i can write about is these folks talkin bout their trauma, apparently. ANYWAY
> 
> hmu @asriells on tumblr if you wanna chat!
> 
> (there... might be tense issues. im so bad at staying in one tense fjsdfjkghj.)

“Charles,” Delia says one night, puffing smoke from her vape pen. It’s orange scented, which is the only reason Charles doesn’t mind it; if it was one of those sweet flavors, it wouldn’t be allowed within ten feet of the house. 

“Hm?” He’s buttoning his shirt back up, lest Lydia or Betelgeuse decide to barge in. 

“I’ve been thinking, do you think we should talk to BJ about… all this?” 

Charles raises an eyebrow at his wife, reclined across the bed. Her vape pen is on the nightstand, now, at least. “All… this?” 

“We basically welcomed him into the family just to kill him, Charles. It must have been traumatizing.” 

“I’m sure being forced into a green card marriage was traumatizing for Lydia,” Charles replies grumpily. 

“Charles,” Delia says sternly, sitting up. “Lydia is still very close to him after everything that happened, and she and him must have had a conversation about this already. I can’t speak for Barbara and Adam, but I’m sure they have, too… Beetlejuice certainly hangs around them often enough. And he’s trying, Charles, he’s trying so hard.” 

Charles just sighs. “Fine.” 

~

Lydia has school during the week, so Betelgeuse’s normal routine is to go back to sleep (either in the corner of the attic, if the Maitlands are awake already, or on the foot of Lydia’s bed like what she has termed “a smelly cat”). Today, he doesn’t. The air in the house feels charged. 

He’s exhausted. On a good night, he’ll be up a few times with nightmares - his mother, being alive very, very briefly before Lydia rips it away, looking _terrified_ (of herself, of him, _of him_ ), of anything and everything. Lydia sleeps deeply, usually, on these nights - she won’t wake to him flinching awake, wiping his nose because he’s a disgustingly ugly crier. 

On bad nights, they’ll both be up - Lydia will wake up sobbing and she’ll wake him up because she’s afraid he’s gone for good, and he’ll have his own nightmares. They’re a mess, the two of them. 

Last night was a bad one. Betelgeuse slept for one, maybe two hours. Lydia had woken up early in the night, terrified out of her mind. “Beej, I’m sorry…” 

Betelgeuse could see her perfectly fine in the dark, no makeup for her tears to ruin. Her small hand grasped his wrist in a death grip. “I’m fine, scarecrow. I told you, no hard feelings.” 

“J-just because you aren’t meant to be alive doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, shouldn’t be _upset_ about it.” She had replied, squeezing his wrist. He’d nodded, prying her fingers from his wrist with his opposite hand and taking it gently. 

“I know, scarecrow. An’ you got plenty of stuff to be upset about, too, though.” Maybe because he was tired, he’d added, “I did a lot of terrible shit to you and your family.” 

Lydia nodded, almost unthinkingly. “You’re still my best friend, though. You saved my life, y’know. Like, like obviously it wasn’t your intention at the time…” 

“Mhm, and you were the first breather to see me. Really see me, not with one o’ those stupid Ouija boards…” Lydia was nearly half asleep again. “I dunno why you guys let me come back, though.” 

Lydia had giggled. “Because, stupid, I missed you…” 

Maybe he’d thought she wouldn’t remember. Maybe he’d just been too tired to think. (He was dead. He didn’t get that tired.) “‘M afraid you guys are just yankin’ the noose on me again.” 

Lydia had squeezed his hand, tight as she could. She’d been struggling to keep her eyes open, but she stared straight at Betelgeuse as she spoke. “I promised you I’d never lie to you, Beetlejuice. Remember? An’, and you can’t break a pinky promise.”

Betelgeuse had just nodded. “I know. Go back to bed, scarecrow.” And when he was sure she had fallen back asleep, he’d cried. 

And so he’s exhausted. Maybe that’s why the atmosphere feels so tense, as he glides down the hallway. He always feels panicky when he doesn’t get enough sleep. 

Which doesn’t make sense. He’s _dead_.

“Oh, BJ, could you come here for a minute?” Delia sticks her head out of the room she shares with Charles just as Betelgeuse passes. Involuntarily, he flinches. 

“Sure, what’s, what’s up?” She leads him into the room, perfectly manicured hand pulling the door shut. He jumps a bit at the sound, especially since it’s coupled with the realization that Charles is in the room, too. Betelgeuse takes in a shaky breath that he doesn’t need. 

“Do you want to, er, sit down?” Charles is awkward, and if he wasn’t so nervous, Betelgeuse would laugh. Instead he only shakes his head and bites at the knuckle of his right pointer finger.

Delia glances at Charles and sits on the bed beside him. “Please, sit down, BJ. And I promise this isn’t anything bad, we just wanted to talk.”

So he doesn’t have a choice now. He sits on his knees on the plush quilt, as close to the edge as he can - his bare feet hang off the foot of the bed. Neither comment on his now-bloody knuckles.

“So!” Delia claps her hands together excitedly. “Charles…?” She looks at her husband expectantly. Charles looks much, much different on his off days - jeans and tee shirt - and it’s frankly disconcerting to Betelgeuse. 

Charles shifts a bit. “We just… we wanted to. Hm. ‘Apologize’ doesn’t feel like the right word.” The last bit is directed at Delia; she rolls her eyes. “Fine, fine. Delia, mostly, feels it would be constructive if we had a conversation about… everything. And exchanged apologies.” 

“Obviously, what happened between you and Lydia, and _to_ you and Lydia was traumatic to, well, all of us,” Delia supplies. 

“What the _fuck_ ,” Betelgeuse replies. 

“...What?” Charles asks, looking genuinely confused. 

“Do - do you want me to leave? Be, because I can leave, really! I know you guys don’t really want me here…” He’s rambling, he knows that, but if he doesn’t want to think about what they might say if he shuts his mouth. 

“Beetlejuice,” Delia says, taking his hands. It feels like a crude imitation of what he’d done with Lydia the night before. “We don’t want you gone. In fact, this is what we wanted to talk about, that you assume we want you to leave! We certainly don’t!” 

Charles nods. “We realized, last night, that the only welcome you had gotten into our family was…” 

“A load of bullshit,” Betelgeuse supplies. 

“Well, yes. And I’m sorry for that.” 

It’s not something Betelgeuse expects. An apology, from Charles? Especially considering the subject matter. 

“You’ve apologized over and over and over again about… everything. We never did. I know you have some… problems, BJ, that make you act the way you do,” Delia says quietly. “It doesn’t feel right for only one party to apologize for something with so many sides.”

Charles nods in agreement, and awkwardly puts a large hand on Betelgeuse’s shoulder. Delia still has his hands in hers, so he has to produce another one to wipe away the tears. “I’m, ‘m sorry for, for everything…”

Delia hauls him into her arms, stronger than she looks. “BJ, it’s okay. We’ve all made a lot of mistakes here. The good thing is that _you are trying_.” 

Charles rubs circles on his back. “We really do appreciate your efforts, BJ. And you’re an integral part of our family, now.” 

Betelgeuse can only sob into Delia’s arms.


End file.
